In the interest of having my thoughts written down and expanded upon somewhere, here I go!

I voted Hillary Clinton predominately because I think Donald Trump is a whack job, unfit for President, and that Hillary better represents my social values. Going into Election Day, even though media coverage leaned strongly towards Hillary, my thinking was that I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump won. And then he did, and I was surprised, but not really.

Some people close to me are in the minority groups subject to Trump’s hate speech (LGBTQ, non-white). Other people close to me probably voted Trump, although I haven’t yet talked to them about it directly.

I don’t think Trump won because he’s a racist, misogynist, and bigot. I think he won for the same reasons the congressional approval rating is at 13%, voter turnout was 55% (a 20 year low), and I myself have been largely politically apathetic for the majority of my voting career. Most Americans have lost faith in the US government — they don’t think their elected politicians are effective representatives of their interests.

I don’t think most Trump voters are ignorant, hateful, etc. Given the divisive state of affairs in this country, the only path forward is respect, mutual understanding, and compassion. I’ve been sharingop-eds from Trump supporters because I think it’s important to listen to their stories. I’ve also found these articles illuminating: